


I'll Never Let Them Hurt You, I Promise

by orphan_account



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Kidnapping, M/M, Swearing, Vampires, Violence, Werewolves, Witches, Wizards, oh my
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-10-24
Packaged: 2017-12-13 16:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Gerard Way becomes something he never even knew existed, it isn't hard to instantly hate himself for what he does now he's this creature. He has to put his self-loathing to one side when his younger brother is mysteriously kidnapped. Will Gerard get his brother back while keeping everyone he loves from knowing about his supernatural secret?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally uploaded on fanfiction.net with the title 'vampires will never hurt you', so I've rewritten it now and basically thought, 'fuck it, I'm going to change this slightly drastically but it'll be better so whatever'. I hope this one is better though!  
> Rating might change. We'll see.

Gerard runs faster than he’s ever had in his entire life; adrenaline races through his body and his heart pumps so hard against his chest, it feels like it’s about to burst. He doesn’t know where he’s going, but knows he needs to get somewhere crowded with people and the more, the better. Everything in his body tells to keep going, to not slow down or stop, whatever the cost.

 Gerard doesn’t know why the man is dangerous, only that he simply _is._

  _Run Gerard!_ His instincts scream. _Run! It’s getting closer! Run, Gerard, run!_

Gerard takes a sharp left and finds himself in a long, dark alleyway. Diving behind a large skip, he crouches in the shadows with a hand pressed against his mouth, trying to quieten his breathing. The adrenaline and fear makes his body shake uncontrollably and it takes everything Gerard‘s got to blink back tears.

 _What are you doing? You should’ve kept on running!_ His mind shouts at him.

 _He’s not going to find me here,_ Gerard desperately thinks as he tucks his knees into his chest. _He’s going to pass by and leave me alone. He won’t find me here._

 “Where are you?” the male voice calls out in a playful singing tone. Dread mixes with the fear and Gerard bites down hard on his fingers.

  _Please leave me alone. Please leave me alone,_ Gerard prays.

 “I’m going to find you,” the man – except he isn’t, can’t be, and Gerard doesn’t know how he knows that – calls out again. “I know you’re here I can smell you; smell your fear and your blood stinking up the place.”

 Gerard’s frozen to the spot as he hears footsteps being dragged torturously slow against the gravel, each step moving closer to his hiding spot. He can somehow see the man – no, the _creature_ , the _thing_ ’s shadow getting larger in the weak light at the entrance of the alley. The shadow and the footsteps stop for a moment and in that pause, the only thing Gerard hear is the sound of his heart beating painfully.

“No!” Gerard screams when invisible hands grab the front of his t-shirt and haul him into the air. His own hands come up instinctively and Gerard tries to wriggle his way free, even when his feet are barely skimming across the ground.

“Oh, you smell so good,” it breathes by Gerard’s ear, making him flinch. It chuckles at the frightened whimper that escapes the victim’s lips before it slams Gerard against the brick wall. “Oh, hush, hush now.” It inhales deeply, far too close to Gerard’s neck for comfort. “My, if you smell this good, I can only imagine what you’ll _taste_ like.” 

“T-T-Taste?” Gerard stammers whilst trying to inch away from his captor.

“Oh yes.” A sigh. One hand lets go of the t-shirt, yet it doesn’t affect the grip holding Gerard against the wall. A shiver runs down Gerard’s spine as an ice-cold finger slowly travels up his stomach before a palm rests above his beating heart. There’s another sigh. “Your poor little heart; it’s racing so fast. Are you really that scared?”

The tone is a mockery of comfort and Gerard doesn’t give it the satisfaction of relying. What kind of question is that anyway? Of course he’s Goddamn scared! He’s pinned to a wall in an alleyway by a stranger, completely helpless and could very well die any second!

The thing holding him suddenly pulls Gerard off the wall and slams him back against it, hard enough to knock the breath out of him.

“I said,” it growls, “’are you really that scared?’”

Gerard can only nod, not able to trust his voice to not break should he answer audibly.  There’s a laugh.

“Pathetic. How old are you, boy?”

“Eighteen,” is the whispered reply.

“What’s your name?”

“G-Gerard Way.”

The creature nuzzles its nose against Gerard’s neck, as it uses its free hand to yank Gerard’s hair back, exposing the long stretch of flesh.

“Welcome to Hell Gerard Way.”

Pain erupts on Gerard’s neck, so sharp that he can’t hold back the scream bursting from his lips. It’s almost like four needles being driven into his skin, injecting some kind of toxin, making his heart beat wildly in response to Gerard’s fear and pain. Gerard tries to squirm away from the tight grip keeping him still, but struggling only makes the pain worse.

An odd numbness begins to form where the pain originated from, quickly spreading around his body through his bloodstream. His heart starts throbbing like he’s experiencing the worst hangover in the world once the numbness reaches his brain. When it reaches his heart, Gerard emits a noise that’s a mixture of a gasp and a scream.

The sensation is overwhelming enough to make Gerard forget about the thing holding him up and when he’s released, he doesn’t feel himself crashing to the ground, nor does he hear the man cursing as he disappears.

Gerard clutches his chest, almost clawing at his skin to cut out whatever is inside him; but it’s too late. It didn’t take long for Gerard’s frantic heart to finally come to an abrupt halt.

When it does, Gerard opens his eyes.

He never knew just how dim the world used to be, because as he looks around, everything’s so sharp and defined; he can see every single scratch on every brick of the two walls behind and in front of him. It’s like someone has lifted the sunglasses from in front of his eyes and the world is so much more clearer now than it ever has been.

There’s a loud yowl of an indignant cat that he recognises as the cat belonging to Mrs. Turner, who lives two doors down from where he does; except that Mrs. Turner’s cat barely ever moves further than the front lawn and Gerard knows he’s at least a few miles away from his street.

What the Hell has happened to him?

The overwhelming pain comes back to his head, stronger this time and Gerard cries out, biting his bottom lip in an effort to keep quiet. The bones in him are throbbing like his head, and Gerard can feel them changing, reshaping his entire skeleton from a human to something else. He tries to scream, to call for help, but all that comes out is a strangled yowl, like a dog.

On impulse, Gerard tears off his clothes, his skin now burning so hot, he wonders if he’s actually caught fire.

He manages to move onto his hands and knees as his bones snap loudly, making him scream in pain. He can’t hear himself, only the sound of blood rushing in his ears. He closes his eyes, waits for death, pleading for it to come and take him away from this nightmare…

For the second time, Gerard opens his eyes.

When he does, he hears something. Cocking his head to one side, he hears the whistling of a man walking closer to the edge of the alleyway. On all fours, Gerard moves without thinking because suddenly, the man’s smell fills his nostrils and dear God, has he ever smelt something so… _divine_?

The minute the man appears in front of Gerard, he leaps and grabs hold of the man, both of them crashing to the ground. The man screams in surprise as Gerard drags him deeper into the alley. The smell has grown tenfold and soon the source of it becomes clear to the subconscious of Gerard’s brain; it’s the man’s blood.

It takes less than ten minutes for Gerard to successfully tear out the man’s jugular and lap up the river of red fluid. The taste is unbelievably satisfying.

When the man lies still and has been for several minutes since Gerard’s finished with him, Gerard decides to sniff around his meal’s coat, finding some interesting scents on his jacket. There’s a clatter, making Gerard’s ear perk up at the sound; he looks over. It’s the guy’s phone. Curiously, Gerard looks at it, and yelps in shock.

Because staring back at him in the reflection, is not the pale eighteen year old with almost shoulder length black hair that Gerard’s used to seeing. No, something else looks back.

A wolf.


	2. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are too kind in your reviews and with your kudos! Here's chapter two, hope you like it!  
> PS. The character, Matt Duhamel, is an OC of mine and is one of the few OC's in this story, that I own. Everything else that is recognisable, I do not own.

**One year later**

The annoyingly loud shriek of the alarm clock woke Gerard, who grabbed the clock and threw it across the room. It crashed against the wall and broke into pieces. Groaning, Gerard rolled over in his bed and promptly fell onto the floor with a thump.

“Damn,” he growled before climbing upstairs from his bedroom in the basement. It’d been his idea to sleep there – it was much safer for his family and the small window provided him with a quick escape to the back garden during his transformations.

Once in the bathroom, with the door locked securely behind him, Gerard gazed at his pale face, with the dark circles around his eyes. It’d been a rough week leading up to the full moon two nights ago, and he was still catching up on sleep whilst trying to avoid his parents and brother’s questions. Quickly washing and brushing his teeth (blood stained his teeth again, he noticed with disgust), Gerard dashed back downstairs into his bedroom and dressed in jeans with a plain blue t-shirt for work.

It wasn’t easy at all being a werewolf; Gerard had pretty much given up on being an instantaneous sex God like everyone on Teen Wolf. Instead, he was still the same, normal and unattractive guy he’d always been, working in a tiny little corner shop and driving his younger brother to school every morning.

“Mikey, get your ass into gear!” Gerard yelled up the stairs. “I’m leaving in half an hour whether you’re in the car or not."

There was a stumble from upstairs as Mikey got up with a soft grunt that Gerard heard with his abnormal hearing – a ‘side effect’ of the lycanthropy, along with the strength and speed, especially whenever he transformed. There were, of course, a few other ‘side effects’, but the majority of them mainly appeared when Gerard was in his wolf form.

Half an hour later and the two Way brothers climbed into their parents’ old car, which they’d given to Gerard for his seventeenth. The car rumbled to life and Gerard winced slightly at the volume the music blared on the radio. He ignored the frown Mikey shot him when he turned it down to a reasonable level that didn’t bother his sensitive ears too much.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mikey demanded suddenly after five minutes of them not talking. Gerard could smell his brother’s irritation before he opened his mouth, so his tone wasn’t that much of a surprise to him.

“What are you talking about?”

“This past year, you’ve been… different. I don’t know how to explain it, and I’m sure it’s nothing –“

“Yeah, it −”

“But you’ve been acting weird and it’s getting really annoying. I mean,” Mikey let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s like you’re not even my brother anymore.”

“Mike, I’m still −”

“I know what you’re going to say, so save it. The fact is Gerard; you’re moodier than when you were filled with hormones and teenage angst. Don’t even get me started on your nightly runs once a month. I mean, what the Hell? Are you some kind of werewolf or something?"

Gerard barked out a laugh. _Oh, Mikey, if only you knew,_ he thought. Instead he said, “I think you’ve been watching too many horror movies, kiddo.”

Mikey’s only response was to slump back in his seat and grumble, “I’m not a kid anymore. I’m sixteen years old.”

Gerard smiled. “I’m sorry about the whole acting weird thing. I’ll try to be more normal from now on, OK?”

At this, Mikey seemed to brighten up a bit and with that, Gerard turned up the volume dial as Bon Jovi began playing.

 

* * *

 

The best thing about working in the small corner shop was how quiet it was. Granted, it wasn’t exactly very good for business but it was almost like a safe Haven for Gerard, who tried to avoid as much interaction with humans as he could. The stench of their emotions had become too overwhelming for him a few times in the past before he could control the wolf to some degree.

“Gerard? That you?” Matt Duhamel called out as Gerard opened the front door.

“Hey Matt. How was your weekend?” Hey, he was trying to fit as best as he could back into humanity, even if humanity had rejected him in the worst way possible.

“Dull,” the older man sighed as Gerard joined him behind the counter. “Hey, you watched the news recently?”

“Nope, why?”

“Couple of murders recently.”

“Matt, people are murdered all the time. What makes these ones special?”

Matt grinned as he leaned in closer to Gerard, as if they were best friends sharing a secret at a sleepover. “Special in that these are no ordinary murders, little boy.” Before Gerard could indignantly protest that he was no longer a ‘boy’ and was certainly not ‘little’, Matt carried on. “People have also been spotting a huge wolf near the area of these murders.”

Gerard’s blood froze in his veins. No. No, it couldn’t have been him. No! He wasn’t a murderer! The only time he’d killed was the first man he’d dragged into the alley and torn to shreds on the night of his Change. It wasn't possible.

Nonchalantly, Gerard asked, “how do you know all about this?”

Matt waved his iPhone in Gerard’s face, to which he laughed.

“Laugh all you want, but the fact is, some strange shit has been going on recently and maybe, just maybe, it’s something supernatural.”

“Yeah, and I’m a fucking wizard!”

Matt lightly smacked the back of the other’s head. “You and your bloody mouth are going to get you into trouble one day!”

“Nineteen years and I’m still standing.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now, go help that guy out there. I’m pretty sure he’s got this week’s delivery.”

 

* * *

 

_Mom says I can have friends over if you’re okay with picking us all up. Can you? -M_

Gerard sighed as he read the text. “See you tomorrow Matt.”

“Watch out for that wolf, man!”

“Whatever,” Gerard threw over his shoulder as he texted back his brother. His ears caught the sound of footsteps hurriedly approaching and without looking up, Gerard quickly sidestepped the stranger.

“Oh, hey! Sorry, man,” the stranger apologized, hands held out in front of him. Gerard flashed him a good-natured smile.

“No, it’s my fault, I should’ve been looking where I was going.”

“Lucky you moved just in time,” the stranger said, smiling back. The smile sent an odd crawl up Gerard’s spine and he took a subtle whiff of the man’s scent. He immediately detested him; whoever this man was, his scent wasn’t good and Gerard’s gut told him not to trust him. “You would’ve crashed into me.”

Gerard’s smile became slightly strained as he replied, “I have good hearing,” and with that, quickly brushed past the stranger and hurried into his car. He hadn’t been driving for very long when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

" _Gerard, it’s me.”_

“I know who it is, I have caller ID you know. Plus, you’re the only one with Anthrax for the ringtone.”

_“I’m calling to let you know that we’re outside the mall and to hurry up because we’re freezing our asses off out here.”_

“Then go inside, you dick.”

On the other side of the line, Mikey huffed. _“Just get here OK?”_

“Alright, alright. Only if you get me some M&M’s.”

_“Gerard!”_ Mikey whined.

“I can just as easily drive back home and let you walk, Mikes. Your choice.”

A few minutes of Mikey’s annoying whines later, Gerard ended the call with a smirk on his face. Yep, he could still persuade his brother to buy him sweets. He was still smirking by the time he pulled up opposite three teenagers on the edge of the sidewalk. Mikey climbed into the passenger seat, throwing the bag of M&M’s onto his brother’s lap before turning on the heater. His two friends dove into the back seats.

“Gerard, this is Frank and Ray. Guys, this is my brother Gerard,” Mikey introduced quickly, holding his hands by the heater. Gerard glanced in his rear-view mirror to get a good look at his brother’s new friends.

One was tall, slightly tanned and had a large, poofy (because that was the only way Gerard could describe it) afro and wore an Iron Maiden shirt with a leather jacket. The other was definitely the shortest, with short black hair, green eyes and a silver lip ring that sat on the bottom lip of a (slightly mischievous, Gerard noted) grin. Although Gerard didn’t have any piercings himself ( _ugh, needles_ , he shivered), he could most certainly appreciate guys with them. Tattoos, too.

_Eyes on the road Gerard!_ His mental voice chastised him. _This is not the time to be checking out your brother’s friend. Not now, not ever._

Yeah, Gerard agreed. Because who would ever love a freak of natural like himself?


	3. Two

Gerard could tell from the minute the three teenage boys climbed into his car, that it was going to be a long night. It didn’t help that with the addition of two extra, hormone-filled boys and his sensitive nose that he'd smell their changing emotions until they left. He’d waited twenty torturous minutes that were similar to hours, in the car as Mikey chatted non-stop, Ray occasionally throwing in a comment while Frank stared at Gerard through the rear-view mirror. Afterwards, Gerard had stomped off to his room and tried to hold back his growls of annoyance as he paced the length of the basement. Damn that Frank kid with his damn staring.

“Where’s your brother?” Gerard heard Frank ask from the living room. With a groan, he flopped onto his bed and slammed the pillow around his head, trying to block out as much noise as possible.

“Probably in his room downstairs. Come on, lemme show you the new game I got!” Mikey replied, voice still clear as if Gerard had been standing next to him.

“Fucking…” Gerard’s curse trailed off as he snatched up his iPod and turned up the volume until it was loud enough that the sounds coming from around the house became a soft background buzz. He rolled onto his side and brought his knees to his chest, squeezed his eyes shut until he finally fell to sleep.

 

_Rocks were kicked up into the air behind him as he ran blindly. He had no idea were he was or what lay in front of him but judging from the few times he’d accidently snapped twigs in half and found himself halfway through a bush, he guessed he was in some kind of forest._

_“You smell so good.”_

_The words were like giant, invisible hands, reaching out to catch him by the waist, by the throat, haul him back to where he’d started, closer to what he was running from. The four words rang in his head, bounced around in his ears, and became real, so real that he almost fell as he saw an outline of a figure. The figure walked closer, but this time he couldn’t move, was stuck in place and helpless as it advanced towards him. The not-quite-a-physical-manifestation-but-still-there hand reached up to cup his cheek._

_“Welcome to Hell Gerard Way.”_

Gerard bolted upright, sheets tangled between his legs and over half his iPod cord wrapped around his neck. After managing to calm his breathing down and still his hands enough to unwrap the cord, he noticed that the house was blissfully quiet. The nightmare still managed to shake him to his core, even with the different scenes and variations (although always ending with those same five words) every time. He counted the fact that he didn’t get them every night anymore as a plus. Treading silently upstairs, Gerard locked himself in the bathroom and took a long, warm shower, trying to think happy thoughts to distract him from the nightmare. It was difficult but he managed to shake it off somewhat, even if he did have to jack off several more times than he would’ve liked. Minutes later and he found himself tiptoeing to Mikey’s room, opening the door slightly so he could peek in and see Mikey’s sleeping form. A quick sniff told Gerard that his brother was safe.

“Gerard? Is that you?”

“Mom?”

“What are you doing up at this time?” Mrs Way asked, leaning against her bedroom doorframe and trying not to yawn. Her eldest son scratched his head awkwardly.

“Thought I heard something from Mikey’s room,” he lied. Mrs Way sighed, knowing he was lying but sent him back to his room with an, “alright, just go back to bed.”

Sleep did not come back easily to Gerard and he lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling and listening to music until sunlight shone through the small window.

 

* * *

 

He was going insane; he had to be, it was the only reasonable explanation.

Mr and Mrs Way were out for the night and had allowed Mikey to have his two friends over – on the condition that Gerard remained with them so they wouldn’t get into trouble. Gerard had tried begging and pleading that Mikey and his friends would be fine on their own and how much damage could Mikey, an afro-haired guy and a pipsqueak do?

“Gerard, do what your mother says,” Mr Way had sighed before dragging his wife passed the mirror and outside.

In that moment, Gerard felt like shoving a wooden stake through his heart (those worked on werewolves too, right?). It was finally the weekend (five whole days since Mikey first had his friends over) and already Ray and Frank had been invited for a sleepover. Mikey and Ray he could handle, fine, but Frank was a whole different story.

“Thanks Gerard,” he said as Gerard held out his pizza box to him. Their fingers touched briefly as Frank took the box and Gerard swore the little shit winked at him. _Winked._

 _ _If I’m going to Hell because of you fucking with me, you're coming with me, pipsqueak,_ _ had become a common thought in Gerard’s brain during the evening. The phrase, “going to Hell” had triggered a few flashbacks of his nightmare but they were quickly pushed away once the words, “fucking with me” and "coming with me" made themselves known.

He was going to die.

“Hey Gerard, can you get us another bottle of Coke? This one’s run out,” Mikey said, not taking his eyes off the screen where he was playing against Ray. Gerard looked over the top of his laptop.

“Get it yourself.”

“Fine. Frank, go get -”

“Mikey! You can’t ask your friends to do shit like that. It’s rude,” Gerard interrupted, glaring at the back of his brother’s head.

“You go get it then.”

Gerard’s glare intensified. “You owe me.”

“Thank you!” Mikey’s smug voice called from behind him as the elder Way made his way into the kitchen. Unfortunately, the bottles of Coke that he was sure he’d originally put on the worktop had mysteriously vanished.

“What the…” he began when he noticed a soft change in the air as the kitchen door opened.

“I thought you might want some help.”

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

Gerard smiled a forced smile at Frank as he pointedly avoided looking into Frank’s eyes.

“That’d be appreciated, thanks,” he said and quickly turned his back to Frank so that the other boy wouldn’t see the slight blush grazing his cheeks. _Calm down Gerard, it’s not like he’s going to do anything here._

“I think they’re in that cupboard there,” Frank said; now much closer to Gerard as he brushed past and crouched down to search the cupboard beside the fridge.

Gerard’s mouth instantly felt dry as his eyes landed on the round curve of Frank’s ass, covered only by the black denim jeans. The back of Frank’s shirt rose to revealed a patch of skin and Gerard’s eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as he caught several lines of ink across Frank’s side. Of course, he had tattoos! The universe had decided to hate him that much, even after he’d had this curse dumped onto his shoulders.

“Here they are,” Frank’s voice chimed, cutting across Gerard’s thoughts as he stood up with two big bottles of Coke. “Could you get us some glasses please? I don’t have enough hands and I’m not sure where they are.”

The request was sweet enough and had Gerard not been able to smell the other boy practically projecting his emotions, he too would’ve thought him innocent.

“Uh, yeah, s-sure,” Gerard muttered, sidestepping Frank as he quickly grabbed three glasses. He didn’t miss the flash of arousal and hunger in Frank’s eyes as he watched Gerard get the glasses.

Quickly walking into the living room, Gerard dumped the glasses between Mikey and Ray, grabbed his laptop and stormed towards his basement.

“Hey, where you going?” Mikey called, sounding concerned.

“Basement,” was the curt reply that left no room for chitchat.

The wolf was rattling the bars of the mental cage Gerard had padlocked it in and now was not the time for Mikey to become friendless again because his older brother had freaked his current ones out. Shoving a pillow over his face, Gerard screamed into it until his voice was raw, all the while, hoping no one heard him.


	4. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your kudos and wonderful reviews, please keep them coming so I know what you think of my story :)

_Is it me or has that guy been standing there for a while now?_

_If ‘a while’ translates into ‘half an hour’,_ Gerard scribbled back on the piece of paper Matt had slid over to him. He glanced back at the man standing outside next to the front door.

The stranger fit the perfect stereotype of the ‘mysterious-man-who-turns-out-to-be-a-bad-guy’, with his zipped-up black trench coat that swayed around his ankles and the high collar that covered the lower half of his face. The dark fedora hat covered the top half of his face. To top it all off, Gerard was the sure that the guy was wearing sunglasses – in the pouring rain.

At first, the two workers had assumed that the guy – however creepy he may appear – was obviously waiting for someone. But after purposely ignoring the passing costumers and not coming inside the store to call for a taxi or for shelter when the rain came lashing down, Matt and Gerard naturally assumed that something was indeed off.

_What if he’s that mysterious killer I told you about?_

Gerard scoffed at Matt’s written reply. _Dude, that guy’s been quiet for about 3 weeks. I seriously doubt it’s him._

_Chesapeake ripper??_

Gerard laughed loudly, causing the stranger outside to glance in their direction for a moment. He shook his head at Matt. They had to abandon their written chat to each other when there was a loud crash from the storeroom.

“I’ll get it and you serve Hannibal if he comes inside,” Matt muttered as he walked away to see what had happened. Gerard grunted in acknowledgement as he absentmindedly tapped a pen against the counter. He inhaled deeply – and paused.

There was an unusual smell infiltrating his nostrils that made Gerard want to squirm like a child eating a lemon for the first time. He managed to resist the urge as a shadow fell over the counter. He looked up and the scream of surprise died in his throat as he locked gazes with the covered-up stranger from outside. The man was still wearing his sunglasses and oddly enough, his clothes weren’t soaking wet from the rain. Although his eyes were covered, Gerard could still sense the piercing gaze that pinned him to the spot.

“Wolf,” the man snarled in a low voice.

Gerard’s blood ran cold and it was the werewolf inside him that forced his body to duck as the man’s arm swung over the top of his head. The man snarled again and Gerard had the distinct feeling that he’d pissed the guy off. The stranger inhaled Gerard’s scent and his expression didn’t turn any kinder.

“This is my place, and you have no right to be here.”

“What are you on about? I work here,” Gerard said, starting to get a bit annoyed with the man’s lack of explanation.

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, that happened to be the exact moment that Matt appeared from the storeroom to come face-to-face with the cloaked stranger and his co-worker standing in defensive positions opposite each other with the counter between them as a barrier. Both men looked ready to attack each other and Matt didn’t seem fully inclined to step between them, especially by the feral look on the stranger’s face. Gerard didn’t seem too pleased either, but definitely not as scary as the other man.

“What the fu -?” he began before he was interrupted by Gerard.

“Get back in the storeroom; I’ll deal with this… costumer.” His voice was harder than Matt had ever heard it, and was underlined with a tone boarding on commanding, rather than asking him. Not daring to disobey, which was unusual for Matt, being the type to give the orders rather than receive, Matt slowly crept backwards into the storeroom.

The door’s soft click was explosive to Gerard’s super sensitive ears.

“Get out,” Gerard hissed, releasing his inner wolf slightly to prove his point. “Before I make you.”

The stranger sneered. “You and what Pack?” He took two steps closer into Gerard’s personal space and slammed his palms down against the counter. “You’re a lone wolf and an easy target.” He leaned forward until the two men’s noses were almost touching. Neither backed down nor looked away from the other’s eyes. “You wouldn’t last two seconds maximum against my Pack and I.”

“I don’t need a Pack to fight my battles for me.”

The stranger sniffed Gerard. “Ah. You have a Family, not a Pack.” He bared his teeth in what seemed like a smile - the kind of smile that was sure to give nightmares. “Family makes you weak and are easily destroyed.”

“Don’t you dare,” Gerard growled, struggling to keep the wolf on a short chain as his anger bubbled to the surface. “Touch my Family and even your Pack won’t be able to protect you.”

The other laughed as he straightened up. “We’ll see,” he smirked, eyes flashing behind the sunglasses, as he left the store.

 

* * *

 

 

Mikey glanced anxiously over the dinner table where his older brother sat, twirling his spaghetti. If his fist weren’t so tightly clenched around the fork, Mikey would’ve thought he were in his own world and kicked him under the table. The stormy and, frankly, quite scary look on Gerard’s face, however, made him re-think.

“Gerard, honey? What’s wrong?” Mrs Way asked, concerned for her son. Gerard’s head snapped up so quickly, Mikey was sure it had to have hurt his neck, although his brother showed no sign of discomfort.

“Sorry Mom,” Gerard slapped on a painfully fake smile. “Guess I’m just distracted today.”

“Bad day at the office yesterday?” Mr Way joked.

“… Something like that.”

Silence fell once more. Mikey fidgeted in his seat enough to alert Mrs Way’s attention.

“I’m fine Mom,” Mikey assured. “Just tryna get comfy.”

Once dinner was over and their parents distracted by the noise of the TV, Mikey cornered Gerard while his brother was busy cleaning the dishes.

“Don’t lie to me and say nothing’s wrong because honestly, I’m not that much of an idiot. I know you better than you might think and I can tell when something’s worrying you but the look you had at dinner was something I’ve never seen before.” He paused for breath. “So if you don’t tell me what the Hell’s going on, God help me, I’ll… I’ll… I’ll make you tell me!”

Gerard smirked as he calmly dried his hands with a damp dishcloth. “You worry too much, little brother.”

“I’m not little!” Mikey hissed in an effort to keep his voice down whilst gradually becoming angrier. He lashed out and grabbed Gerard’s wrist, yanking him back against the sink. “You can’t fool me like Mom and Dad, so tell me.”

Neither brother spoke for a while as they stared each other off, both with twin looks of determination that showed no sign of wavering. Gerard’s eyebrows furrowed in displeasure as he gently tried to release his wrist.

“Let go of me, Mikey.”

“No.”

The single word of defiance ignited anger deep inside Gerard and he couldn’t hold back the snarl that emitted from the back of his throat in warning. The noise had Mikey surprised and terrified at the same time. This wasn’t like his brother, at all. Finally, Gerard yanked his wrist out of Mikey’s hand and shoved his brother away from him hard enough that he stumbled backwards and almost fell over.

Without a word of apology or explanation, Gerard stalked by and slammed his bedroom door behind him.

Later that night, Mikey would lie in bed, trying to get to sleep and trying to get the image of Gerard’s eyes flashing black as he’d passed him in the kitchen.


	5. Four

It’d been almost a month since the incident in the kitchen. Things had cooled down between Mikey and Gerard until it was like the incident hadn’t happened at all. Frank and Ray came around often, sometimes unexpectedly, to Gerard’s disappointment. That afternoon was one of those instances.

“I’m gonna kick your ass!”

“Aww, man!”

“Dude, you suck.”

Gerard groaned as he heard his brother laugh upstairs in the living room. He spent fifteen minutes laying face-down on his bed, head buried into his pillow before he simply couldn’t take it any longer. Grabbing his phone, iPod and wallet, he ran up the basement stairs with the full intention of getting outside.

“Oh shit, sorry, Gerard. Didn’t see you there,” Ray said apologetically as they bumped into each other in the kitchen. Gerard grunted in response, not caring that he was being rude, and went to move passed him; Ray’s hand on his shoulder halted him. “Hey, it’s none of my business, but are you okay? Mikey mentioned you were acting really weird about a month ago and I figured you must be stressed because you don’t have a ─”

“You’re right, Ray,” Gerard cut off. He took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face. “It really is none of your business.”

Slapping Ray’s cold hand off his shoulder, Gerard stalked through the living room and outside. He popped in his ear buds and set his iPod to shuffle, feeling more and more relaxed the further he walked away from the house. The August air was warm and Gerard was glad he hadn’t been wearing a jacket when he’d left. Mikey had texted him worriedly a few seconds after he’d left, asking him where he was going, to which Gerard had replied: _Out for a walk._

 _Bright is the moon high in starlight,_  
 _Chill in the air cold as steel tonight._  
 _We shift_ ─

“Fucking really?” Gerard muttered as he realised what song was playing. Fumbling with his iPod, he quickly flicked through the random songs until he came to one that wasn’t werewolf or animal related. Despite how loud he had his volume turned up, Gerard could still hear the rustle of leaves on branches as they swayed in the air; it reminded him of old black-and-white horror movies he watched religiously as a thirteen year-old.

He turned off his iPod and put it back into his pocket, haven smelt something odd in the air. He stood perfectly still, listening to all the sounds within his hearing range, scanning the area around him whilst his mind whirred furiously. The air became colder, sending goosebumps up Gerard’s bare arms as it rushed around him.

A twig snapped to his left.

Gerard’s head swung over in the direction of the noise. It appeared to have come from the back yard behind the white picket fencing. There was nobody there; it was just him, all alone out on the street.

 _Maybe I should go home,_ Gerard thought, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that he was being watched. _That’s the paranoia talking. Jeez, when did it become so cold and dark?_ He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself; why hadn’t he brought a jacket? Oh yeah, because he was too busy stomping out of the house like a moody preteen. _Way to go, Gerard._

He got out his phone, and texted Mikey saying he was on his way back and to not worry. The phone was kept in front of him, its light showing him the way.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been walking until there was another rustle from the trees and something came gliding down from them. Gerard paused as a piece of paper fell onto the ground at his feet; out of curiosity, he picked it up.

It was a photograph of a house with two teenagers walking together on the front lawn.

Gerard immediately recognised the house as his own and the two teenagers as...

"Frank and Ray..." he whispered, throat closing up. Before he could even being to think about the situation and what he was going to do, his phone began to vibrate in his hand. “Mikey?” he practically shouted down the receiver.

No answer.

“Mikey?!” Gerard called again, feet moving of their own accord, gradually picking up speed. The forgotten photograph floated gently to the ground in his wake. “ _Mikey!_ This is serious dammit, _answer me!_ ”

A series of short, panting breaths answered him. Gerard’s inner wolf began to shake in fury and confusion. That was definitely Mikey breathing, but why wasn’t he answering? What was happening?

Gerard bit back a furious growl as Mikey’s breathless pants turned into a scream of fear.

“ _Gerard!”_

By this point, Gerard was running, adrenaline rushing through his system as the wolf threw itself against the bars of its cage. There was a click as the line disconnected and Gerard allowed the wolf some leeway; he was rewarded with an extra pulse of speed and stamina. Thankfully, he managed to restrain himself from literally kicking down the front door, bodily slamming the wood as he pushed down the handle at the sametime.

“Mikey?” he called, reeling the wolf back in. The house was still clean; no trashed furniture or flames licking at the walls to get rid of the evidence. It was like nothing bad had happened. “Fuck,” he cursed, ready to give up any hope of finding a clue to get his brother back, when he found it.

It was a note, pinned to the fridge with a magnet of himself and his family on a ride at a theme park.

**Family makes you weak and they are easily destroyed.**

**  
**Gerard tore off the note, the magnet just barely hanging onto the fridge. He snarled, his pupils expanding over his hazel irises until they were completely drowned underneath the dangerous black. The wolf seemed to glee as Gerard’s lips pulled back into a snarl, teeth expanding into long and lethal fangs, strong enough to tear through flesh. His nails also grew and curled into a wolf’s claws, rumpling up the note as his palms curled into fists.

Body shaking in fury, Gerard left the house through the kitchen door.

He had found a lingering scent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics are from Metallica's Of Wolf and Man :)


	6. Five

It'd taken two whole days for Gerard to follow the scent to a house on the outskirts of town. He wasn't used to tracking scents - while he probably had during the full moon, he hadn't in his (now mostly) human form - and it'd been a little difficult to start off with. His nose was sensitive to other smells and once or twice he'd been distracted by another scent, crossing under the one he was following. Gerard still had his phone in his pocket and had to calm himself down once in order to speak to his parents, telling them he was staying at a friend's for a few days.

He'd barely slept, too worried about Mikey's well being - was he safe? Still alive, even? No, he mustn't think like that. Of course he was still alive. He had to be.

Gerard sniffed near the border of the house; it wasn't old, yet not strictly modern either. Yearly nineties, Gerard guessed. At least they hadn't gone for the cliched abandoned house.

The night covered him like a shield as he crept on all fours down the jungle that was the back yard. The smell of an Alpha wolf and another three wolves still clung to the grass; among their scents, Gerard detected the familiar human one of walnuts and coffee - Mikey was still here. He inched forward some more until he was almost near the back door. Oddly enough, this house didn't seem to have a trap door leading to the basement, where the scents were coming from the strongest. Looked like he'd have to do this the hard way. If he could take them by surprise, perhaps they wouldn't be so inclined to kill Mikey or worse, turn him.

The door was unlocked and thankfully didn't make any creaking noises as it was slowly opened. Gerard had to pause every now and then in order to take deep breaths - he could hear Mikey's sharp cries and loud smacks coming from the basement.  _Easy there,_ he told the wolf gently.  _Now's not the right time to turn._

He tiptoed through the kitchen and towards the basement door. The floorboards creaked softly underneath his weight and the whole house went dead silent.

"Did you hear that?" one of the wolves asked quietly. There was a murmur of agreement.

"Must be that Alpha," the other Alpha - the enemy! Gerard's wolf snapped at him - muttered. "You two go sort him out. Bring me his head."

Gerard used the time it took for them to fully turn into wolves - the pain of bones snapping obscenely and shifting in order to reset themselves never get any easier with time - and dashed up the stairs, taking two at a time and darting into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He tore off his clothes and allowed the wolf inside him to unleash itself just as he heard the wolves smashing through basement door downstairs. He screamed, not caring that it meant the other wolves would find him; if he didn't change now, there was no way he'd survive an attack against two werewolves, even with his inhuman abilities. It would be like a vicious dog against a toddler who'd just learned to walk.

The wolves threw themselves at the bathroom door, which collapsed under the large pressure, falling directly onto a newly changed Gerard. He yelped, jumping out of the way as the first wolf - similar size, its fur a lighter shade than Gerard's, yellowed eye and a long scar running down the side of its face, over one eye which was closed - leaped at him, the corners of its mouth pulled back into a fierce snarl. It snapped its jaws in front of Gerard's face and he swiped his paw in retaliation.

He climbed on top of the door before leaping back at the wolf, claws digging into the massive bulk as his teeth closed over the back of the other's neck. His jump pushed the wolf back until it was underneath Gerard and squirming to get free. The opposing wolf rolled over, pulling Gerard forwards as it took hold of Gerard's leg between its sharp teeth. Gerard's back slammed into the wall of the bathroom, and he yelped as blood oozed out of the wound in his front leg.

 _Let go of me!_ Gerard snarled, grabbing the wolf's ear between his teeth and yanking forcefully. The pain in his leg was horrific as the teeth were roughly pulled away, opening the wound even more as the other whined at the pull in his ear. Swiping with his back leg, Gerard managed to aim a good kick at his opponent, sending him flying into the large bathtub.

There was a loud crack as the wolf's head collided with the bathroom wall and it fell into the tub. Guessing it was either dead or simply knocked out, Gerard turned his attention to the second wolf with a tan coat of fur. Hunching forward, Gerard gave him a warning growl which the tan wolf responded with a sharp bark of... laughter?

Gerard blinked in confusion as the tan wolf transformed into his human form. Or rather, her human form. Gerard did his best not to look anywhere below her neck, focusing on her pale skin, straight white hair and red eyes. He guessed that explained the light shade of her wolf's fur, although he'd never heard of a werewolf's fur being similar to their hair color.

"It's okay, I don't want to hurt you," the albino girl assured him. "I just want to help you get the human boy back. Mikey's his name, right?" Gerard gave her a slow nod. "Like I said, I'd like to help you get him back. He's a sweet guy and honestly? You're gonna get yourself killed with a paw like that. There's no time to bandage it, I'm afraid and we need to get going, fast." She ushered Gerard to go - or rather, limp - downstairs and into the basement while she changed back.

Gerard nuzzled underneath her jaw as a way of thanks before making the painful and nerve wracking trip to the basement. Injured paw or not, Gerard was determined to get his brother back, safe and sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure how wolves fight (especially in houses), but this is the best I could guess... I guess...  
> Hope you like the albino girl I included at the end! Yes, she is an OC and whether or not she ends up with one of the boys or another OC (and even her fate in this fic), is completely up to you guys!


End file.
